Approaching 2020: A Dissemination Project to Share Key Findings from the NSF-funded "Engineer of 2020" Studies

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

This engineering education research project seeks to synthesize the results of two prior NSF studies done at Pennsylvania State University: "Prototype to Production: Conditions and Processes for Educating the Engineer of 2020" and "Prototyping the Engineer of 2020: A 360-degree Study of Effective Education". The proposed synthesis will enable audiences of educational administrators and national policy makers to understand best practices that contribute to the goals outlined in the National Academy of Engineering's "The Engineer of 2020" (2004) and "Educating the Engineer of 2020" (2006). The broader significance and importance of this project is to help ensure that best practices in engineering education are broadly adopted by creating a channel for such practices to flow to administrators and policy makers. This project overlaps with NSF's strategic goals of transforming the frontiers by making investments that lead to emerging new fields of engineering, or shifting existing fields. Additionally NSF's goal of innovating for society is enabled by creating results and research that are useful for society by informing educational policy and practices.